Achievements and Accomplishments Thread

[lalatan]

After just getting your 16/30 lithochemistries, think I'm gonna start a new notebook. Looking at admin's post of newly added word lengths, it seems that the 4x4 boards were gifted the most at the high end. Enough that a new notebook is warranted. 3,422 new 16 letter words. 5,352 new 15 letter ones. And they're most likely rare or ultrarare.

I agree that 4x4 boards were the greatest benefactor for long words. Since the update I found 3 25 new letter words in 5x5. But there was a lot of slogging through hordes of boards with a ton of ultra-rare words and nothing worth >24 pts in order to get them.

I started the day well in 4x4 yesterday so kept going. Took meal breaks... tidied the kitchen ...didn't play for half an hour. I began to think maybe this was a special day in the afternoon. Found lots of 15, 16 ltr words in <30 secs. So I kept at it, no screenshots, no checking stats. At 5:30, I checked my stats for the day and found I was at 110 records. My previous high for 1 day was 130 records set in 5x5. So the wife came home and I didn't play again until 12:15 a.m. It was unreal; my mind felt like a top fuel dragster. It was 1 record after another after another. I had a stretch when every time I looked at time remaining, it was >1:40. Some words I saw immediately. I usually go to sleep at 1:00 but this was too good to quit so went at it til 1:35. I wound up setting 153 records for the day.

Once I saw that I thought, "Why didn't you play more through day and the evening?! You might have made 200." So then I had a talk with myself, "Calm down you dufus. This is an important milestone for you but it won't matter a bit to the vast, wide majority of players. Just savor the moment and stop the self-recriminations." So today I popped the parachute open on the dragster and am just coasting. This game keeps taking my mind to places I never thought it would go.

[Naboka]

I agree that 4x4 boards were the greatest benefactor for long words. Since the update I found 3 25 new letter words in 5x5. But there was a lot of slogging through hoards of boards with a ton of ultra-rare words and nothing worth >24 pts in order to get them.

I started the day well in 4x4 yesterday so kept going. Took meal breaks... tidied the kitchen ...didn't play for half an hour. I began to think maybe this was a special day in the afternoon. Found lots of 15, 16 ltr words in <30 secs. So I kept at it, no screenshots, no checking stats. At 5:30, I checked my stats for the day and found I was at 110 records. My previous high for 1 day was 130 records set in 5x5. So the wife came home and I didn't play again until 12:15 a.m. It was unreal; my mind felt like a top fuel dragster. It was 1 record after another after another. I had a stretch when every time I looked at time remaining, it was >1:40. Some words I saw immediately. I usually go to sleep at 1:00 but this was too good to quit so went at it til 1:35. I wound up setting 153 records for the day.

Once I saw that I thought, "Why didn't you play more through day and the evening?! You might have made 200." So then I had a talk with myself, "Calm down you dufus. This is an important milestone for you but it won't matter a bit to the vast, wide majority of players. Just savor the moment and stop the self-recriminations." So today I popped the parachute open on the dragster and am just coasting. This game keeps taking my mind to places I never thought it would go.

Double wowzer!

Supercongratulationnesses on the records. 153 is mindboggling.

You were definitely In The Zone. It's a state of mind that's meaningless to anyone who hasn't experienced it.

So happy that your post expressing such disappointment trying to find something new and worthwhile on 5x5 didn't dissuade you from playing 4x4.

In so many ways, this is a lonely game. The successes are mostly for one's self. Reminds me of the Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. In the end, you're not doing any of this for anyone else. It's just the challenge and the personal reward.

Playing for me is a Zen experience. Beautiful music in the background. Hitting the zone. It's magical. It's spiritual. It's a meditatiion.

To the uninformed, that probably makes no sense. But, the mind is the mind, and productive mental engagement brings satisfaction to us all. Doesn't matter if we're trying to discover the secrets of earthworms or finally getting consistent with 3-pointers. You can get in the zone doing anything.

Anything.

When I get off the bike after a long hard ride, there's such a physical joy. Makes no sense to most people. Maybe it's the endorphins. Working yourself to absolute exhaustion, to the limits of endurance would theoretically leave you spent and hurting. It does, but...

Pushing your mind to its limits has the same effect. Finding the zone and settling in...?

Priceless.

Never bought a drug that's better.

It's addictive.

Though.

Opportunity costs exists for everything we do.

ps: it would be interesting to see how many people are benefitting from the new dictionary--and to what degree. A very, very uniformed guess: less than a dozen are having a dramatic shift in their games. But, what do I know? May be dozens.

[crazykate]

I don't know whether my games have been affected more by the update or by my more relaxed playing style, but I'm definitely finding more interesting words.
I'm also not chasing records right now (which is why I'm no longer ruling out games that lalatan has played), and I'm finding very interesting medium-length words that other people missed, which gives me a sense of accomplishment on a non-record breaking scale.
Like just now I played a game where the longest word was "appreciativeness", and I found "evanesces" and "hieratics" on the same board. I really like the fact that these words are quite different and unrelated, it's somehow more satisfying than finding five words derived from the same root.

[Brisul]

Like just now I played a game where the longest word was "appreciativeness", and I found "evanesces" and "hieratics" on the same board. I really like the fact that these words are quite different and unrelated, it's somehow more satisfying than finding five words derived from the same root.

I love how unique a group of people this is here. I've loved words and language my whole life since before I was in kindergarten. To see it come to fruition on a site like this is pretty neat

[lalatan]

Double wowzer!

Supercongratulationnesses on the records. 153 is mindboggling.

You were definitely In The Zone. It's a state of mind that's meaningless to anyone who hasn't experienced it.

So happy that your post expressing such disappointment trying to find something new and worthwhile on 5x5 didn't dissuade you from playing 4x4.

In so many ways, this is a lonely game. The successes are mostly for one's self. Reminds me of the Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. In the end, you're not doing any of this for anyone else. It's just the challenge and the personal reward.

Thanks, Naboka. Yes, I agree with what you said. I still love the challenge of this game and the playing of it. I told my wife about what happened and she expressed dismay that she may be losing me to this game again. lol, yet another perspective. I admit I can get obsessive but haven't been pushing too hard since I surpassed MegaWord's total best/longest word records total and the subsequent nonevent response.

[Naboka]

Thanks, Naboka. Yes, I agree with what you said. I still love the challenge of this game and the playing of it. I told my wife about what happened and she expressed dismay that she may be losing me to this game again. lol, yet another perspective. I admit I can get obsessive but haven't been pushing too hard since I surpassed MegaWord's total best/longest word records total and the subsequent nonevent response.

Oh, yes, the wife.

Certainly part of the equation. Part of the opportunity cost.

The better half here has lost all interest in her husband wasting so much time playing this game. Though, it does provide the social coin to go party with her friends with clear conscience.

On another note, do you ever run into games that have been played almost 4o times by good players and scratch your head wondering how they missed such an obvious word?

Just played one where "simultaneously" was flashing like a motel vacancy sign in the Ozarks. Because it's a long common word, I generally wouldn't have played it because the points are poor per effort-- Except the board stats had the longest played word at 8 letters.

But, considering the ridiculously difficult/estoteric words that get found in 3 plays, seeing something that easy missed for so long...

You ever wonder?

[lalatan]

On another note, do you ever run into games that have been played almost 4o times by good players and scratch your head wondering how they missed such an obvious word?

Just played one where "simultaneously" was flashing like a motel vacancy sign in the Ozarks. Because it's a long common word, I generally wouldn't have played it because the points are poor per effort-- Except the board stats had the longest played word at 8 letters.

But, considering the ridiculously difficult/estoteric words that get found in 3 plays, seeing something that easy missed for so long...

You ever wonder?

Oh yeah, I found a few long words in some games that were played 40-50 times. Some others like Spike and crazykate have too. Now I only play those games if the stats tell me there's a strong possibility there's something worth more pts. Also, if the word I found isn't worth enough pts and will drag down my APPW I will dump the game. For the word "simultaneously" I wouldn't even play the word if I saw it since the pt value is too low. Most long word players would skip it as well, which may account for some of these words being unplayed. Just my theory but I think we all have blind spots for certain words. I took me 5-6 times before I played REPETITIOUSNESSES while the timer was running. Previously I'd examine the board afterward because I knew something worthwhile was there. And there it would be; I'd missed it again... irritating.

A few days ago, I decided to play only plurals of words I find. I thought I'd advise you so when you play a board where I have the record you won't have to wonder if the singular was valid or not. I want to raise my APPW for the month. I had a good avg because I was finding mostly words in the 28-33 pt range. I thought I might as well pick up some digital hardware if it's available. I thought I'd euthanize 2 avian creatures with 1 projectile of a mineral substance, although in real life I have difficulty conceiving how that could ever happen w/o gunpowder being involved.

I was curious all this year if I could get a winning APPW and the required 51 games all in 1 day. I was pretty sure I could but didn't try because it would bum out the other competitors. It turned out that it happened w/o me noticing the first day I played 4x4 this month. Oops, oh well, I can cross off that on the "I wonder" list.

[lalatan]

Oh yeah, I found a few long words in some games that were played 40-50 times. Some others like Spike and crazykate have too. Now I only play those games if the stats tell me there's a strong possibility there's something worth more pts. Also, if the word I found isn't worth enough pts and will drag down my APPW I will dump the game. For the word "simultaneously" I wouldn't even play the word if I saw it since the pt value is too low. Most long word players would skip it as well, which may account for some of these words being unplayed. Just my theory but I think we all have blind spots for certain words. I took me 5-6 times before I played REPETITIOUSNESSES while the timer was running. Previously I'd examine the board afterward because I knew something worthwhile was there. And there it would be; I'd missed it again... irritating.

A few days ago, I decided to play only plurals of words I find. I thought I'd advise you so when you play a board where I have the record you won't have to wonder if the singular was valid or not. I want to raise my APPW for the month. I had a good avg because I was finding mostly words in the 28-33 pt range. I thought I might as well pick up some digital hardware if it's available. I thought I'd euthanize 2 avian creatures with 1 projectile of a mineral substance, although in real life I have difficulty conceiving how that could ever happen w/o gunpowder being involved.

I was curious all this year if I could get a winning APPW and the required 51 games all in 1 day. I was pretty sure I could but didn't try because it would bum out the other competitors. It turned out that it happened w/o me noticing the first day I played 4x4 this month. Oops, oh well, I can cross off that on the "I wonder" list.

[Naboka]

Oh yeah, I found a few long words in some games that were played 40-50 times. Some others like Spike and crazykate have too. Now I only play those games if the stats tell me there's a strong possibility there's something worth more pts. Also, if the word I found isn't worth enough pts and will drag down my APPW I will dump the game. For the word "simultaneously" I wouldn't even play the word if I saw it since the pt value is too low. Most long word players would skip it as well, which may account for some of these words being unplayed. Just my theory but I think we all have blind spots for certain words. I took me 5-6 times before I played REPETITIOUSNESSES while the timer was running. Previously I'd examine the board afterward because I knew something worthwhile was there. And there it would be; I'd missed it again... irritating.

A few days ago, I decided to play only plurals of words I find. I thought I'd advise you so when you play a board where I have the record you won't have to wonder if the singular was valid or not. I want to raise my APPW for the month. I had a good avg because I was finding mostly words in the 28-33 pt range. I thought I might as well pick up some digital hardware if it's available. I thought I'd euthanize 2 avian creatures with 1 projectile of a mineral substance, although in real life I have difficulty conceiving how that could ever happen w/o gunpowder being involved.

I was curious all this year if I could get a winning APPW and the required 51 games all in 1 day. I was pretty sure I could but didn't try because it would bum out the other competitors. It turned out that it happened w/o me noticing the first day I played 4x4 this month. Oops, oh well, I can cross off that on the "I wonder" list.

dumping games has become a cleansing ritual. almost a sweat lodge dripping unwanted words.

The s is a very weird letter here.

played a longest word the other day. forgot which one. but adding an s actually reduced the point value of its singular. by about 5 points--?.

Crazy how an s can turn a 3 point word into an 8 pointer or turn a 6 pointer into a 3 pointer.

As for the avians, the rule says nothing about the size of the stone. Ayers rock could kill not only a couple of birds but an entire downtown--if dropped on them.

Nor about the temperature. Hot enough rock dropped into a small pond might just boil every duck floating.

loopholes.

[lalatan]

As for the avians, the rule says nothing about the size of the stone. Ayers rock could kill not only a couple of birds but an entire downtown--if dropped on them.

Nor about the temperature. Hot enough rock dropped into a small pond might just boil every duck floating.

loopholes.

LOL, I just don't have enough imagination. Great stuff. Loved the loopholes ending.

[jbud1980]

Finally scored over 700 playing 4X4. I was beginning to think it would always elude me by one point.

Total points: 714 New record!
Total words: 118 (35 common,20 wide,10 rare,53 ultra rare) New record!
Best word: DINKERS (13 pts.)
Longest word: CLINKERS (8 letters)

Happy Holidays everyone, and happy playing.

[bwt1213]

I thought I might as well pick up some digital hardware if it's available. I thought I'd euthanize 2 avian creatures with 1 projectile of a mineral substance, although in real life I have difficulty conceiving how that could ever happen w/o gunpowder being involved.

I used to hunt with rocks (and spears, but that's another story), and I can assure you that it is indeed possible without gunpowder if a flat stone is used. When I was 15 or 16 or so, I could throw a flat rock on level ground well over 600 feet and did so a number of times to prove it (I think my best was a little more than 800 feet, and I'll bet there were a lot of similarly gifted young men). I was also accurate enough to hunt with rocks successfully, but a sling greatly increases velocity and accuracy. I remember watching a TV program featuring a champion slinger, and the kinetic energy imparted to his throwing stones was about the same as that of a .45 caliber handgun load. Goliath may not have stood a chance. Birds? A slinger might get a lot more than two with one stone. I have no idea if they did, but I assume they would have hunted that way. Yes, I hunted for food, and my family was happy I did; money was tight.

[Brisul]

Finally scored over 700 playing 4X4. I was beginning to think it would always elude me by one point.

Total points: 714 New record!
Total words: 118 (35 common,20 wide,10 rare,53 ultra rare) New record!
Best word: DINKERS (13 pts.)
Longest word: CLINKERS (8 letters)

Happy Holidays everyone, and happy playing.

I haven't played 4x4 in over 5 years, but I remember how great it felt to finally hit 700. Awesome work!

[crazykate]

I just found HETEROCHROMATINIZATION for 45 points. I didn't know that was a word. The board just looked promising with lots of puzzle pieces that seemed like they could be part of a long word, and I tried several combinations before stumbling on this one.

[jbud1980]

I haven't played 4x4 in over 5 years, but I remember how great it felt to finally hit 700. Awesome work!

Thank you Brisul. I also play 5X5 and you are a phenomenal player. Any tips?